Casting Shadows

Chapter 18

Chapter 18 (Ruby's POV)

Bandit's brown eyes stare at me with interest as I hold her on my hip.  We have grown to be quite fond of each other, despite my usual disliking for babies and children.  I find it humorous how she favors me over Mikey, but it does not surprise me either. He tends to get noticeably frustrated very easily and Bandit does not enjoy hearing his rants.

I would not exactly say that Gerard is particularly good with her either.  Like his brother, he too has too short of a temper for his daughter's liking.  When she grows to be older, I can only imagine how much pressure her father will put on her to be successful.  Gerard would be the definition of a tiger parent.

"We aren't finished discussing this!" I hear Mikey shout from the hall.

"Yes, we are," Gerard says as his bedroom door swings open, revealing the two bickering siblings.

"Then why can't I do the same? It's supposed to be genetic."

"I don't know, Mikey! Perhaps if you tested your own abilities you would find that you could in fact do it as well."

"You aren't understanding me. I would never wish to have an ability such as that. Doing that to angels who have done nothing wrong is inhumane." Mikey's eyes flood with anger and disappointment. That seems to be all that their relationship is made up of now. Gerard continuously does something that his little brother does not approve of and they argue, Mikey always being to one to lose the quarrel.

"Why must you continuously harass me about my morals? I understand that you think I'm the bad person and you're the fucking saint who always knows right from wrong, but I swear to you that one day you will see how wrong you truly are."

"Why am I always the one in the wrong? Maybe you are are at fault for once."

The brothers' quarrel continues, leaving Bandit and I to ourselves. I hold her from under her arms and place her into the crib beside the bed. She is beautiful, but I have a fear that with the environment that she is being raised in, her character will be anything but that.

"Get out," Gerard snaps at his brother. "I can't even stand to look at you right now."

Mikey's hands clench into fists and his jaw tenses. He has told me on numerous occasions how much he despises being ordered around by his brother, yet he still seems to obey every time. He storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"What were you arguing about this time?" I ask. By now I am very aware that asking any type of question could result in Gerard's temper exploding on me, but at this point I could not care less if he just killed me.

He sighs and walks over to me, lifting my chin and placing a soft kiss on my lips. The stage of his kindest precedes the one of rage towards me. If he always acted as he does in the first, then I might even love him. Unfortunately for everyone that is not the case.

"I want to show you something," he says with a small smile, completely ignoring my question. He goes to his drying rack where he keeps his in-progress artwork and takes out a canvas. "I finally finished it."

He leans the painting against the wall and steps away, wrapping his arm around my waist. When he is not throwing insults or punches at me, he usually pretends that I do not exist at all. On the rare occasion he treats me like we are a true couple.